The women, named only as Federica and Isabel by Italian media, were married in a civil ceremony by the local mayor, Luca Salvai, in Pinerolo near Turin following the legalization of gay marriage in Italy this year.

The women, both aged 44, were to have been married in the small town on Thursday but they brought the service forward 24 hours in a bid to avoid mass media coverage after they gave a discreet interview to La Stampa published Wednesday.

“It was a very simple ceremony,” said Mr Salvai. “It is their celebration and I am happy to have helped them to achieve their wish.”

Federica comes from southern Italy and Isabel is from South America. Both belonged to the Franciscan order, named after Pope Francis’ namesake St. Francis of Assisi.

The women had to formally notify the Vatican of their decision to leave their vocation but say they have no intention of abandoning their faith.

“We don’t want to become celebrities, but live peacefully together,” Federica said. “We are leaving the convent, but we are not leaving the church and we will not forget our faith.”

The women are also planning to celebrate their union with a separate religious service to be performed in few weeks by Franco Barbero, a former priest who was excommunicated from the church by Pope John Paul II in 2003 for his controversial views on gay marriage and other issues.

Their union will be the 20th civil union Barbero has conducted this year. He said their story was "like all the love stories in the world".

"They got to know each other slowly… and in the end they discovered deep feelings," Barbero told La Stampa.

"They are two beautiful people, with very deep faith. They thought about it for a long time and took their decision courageously, knowing it wouldn't be widely accepted."

He said the couple had delayed the religious service " for a few weeks" to maintain privacy and that this was not the first union of former nuns he had blessed.